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Nursing staff have become increasingly exasperated at government plansChristopher Furlong/Getty Images

Sam ListerHealth Editor

Last updated at 2:10PM, April 11 2011

Nursing leaders warned today that the workforce was considering industrial
action for the first time in its history because of exasperation at cuts to
essential services.

Peter Carter, the chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said
nurses were now discussing action of some form. He said it reflected the
unparalleled pressures they were under at an unprecedented time of
turbulence within the NHS.

“This is what nurses are talking about. It is a symptom of their frustration.
They keep being told [by ministers] that the NHS is protected and it isn’t.
That is just a myth.